Jubilant Jones Floors Ding
Jamie Jones scored one of the best wins of his career with a 6-2 defeat of two-time UK Champion Ding Junhui in the last 32 of the Betway UK Championship.
World number five Ding became the latest top star to crash out of the tournament in York, following the likes of Judd Trump, Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham out of the exit door.
And he was soundly beaten by an excellent display from Welsh 28-year-old Jones, who is through to the last 16 of this tournament for the first time.
Jones won the opening frame with a break of 61 and the second with a 46 clearance. Ding recovered to 2-2 but then Jones dominated after the interval, winning four frames in a row with top runs of 55 and 51.
“It ranks high among my best ever wins,” said world number 39 Jones, who now meets David Gilbert. “I felt calm throughout and I put Ding under pressure. If you do that against anyone they will miss, and then you’ve got to punish them when you get chances.
“My philosophy this week has been to just treat every match the same and not think about how far I am in the draw or the prize money.”
Mark Allen made a tremendous comeback from 4-0 down to beat Ryan Day 6-5. Allen made a 136 to launch his fightback and eventually won a tense 41-minute decider on the colours.
“I felt at 4-0 down that if I could get a couple of frames back I’d have a chance,” said Allen, who now meets John Higgins. “When it got to 4-3 I noticed Ryan was shaking all over the place and I knew I could win. I’m chuffed with the result but I need to improve.”
Stephen Maguire came from 5-3 down to edge out Fergal O’Brien 6-5 while China’s Zhang Anda saw off Mitchell Mann 6-3.